


Chat Rooms and Chat Rumours

by Delnic



Category: Bleach
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Future, Delusions, Futuristic, Gen, Gotei 13 - Freeform, Insanity, Multiple Personalities, Schizophrenia, War, cage fighter renji, chat, chat room, crime watch, criminal hichigo, emo teen, footballer Ichigo, hichigo - Freeform, mental health, split personality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-15 16:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8064262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delnic/pseuds/Delnic
Summary: In a futuristic world where most things strange are considered the norm, Ichigo finds himself spending most of his free time chatting with mostly-strangers online. All the while, trouble brews IRL and it doesn't have the patience to wait. Soon, he hears of the infamous Gotei 13 and rumours of war. He wants nothing more than to stay out of troubles way, however, as per usual, things don't quite go to plan. 
Taking suggestions for characters from bleach and other fandoms to be implemented.





	1. Crime Watch

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate Universe in which characters from Bleach (and other fandoms, suggest characters you would like to see) unknowingly chat to each other online under playful pseudo names, while the real world persists on ruining everything.
> 
> Characters revealed so far:  
> \- Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) Strawbzy  
> \- Hichigo (Bleach)  
> \- Renji Abarai (Bleach) SnekFire
> 
> Hidden Characters:  
> \- EmoTheKidd
> 
> In this first chapter, Ichigo wakes up with what feels like a hangover, only to be alerted by trusted friend Renji that he's been spotted on Crime Watch. Again.

# Chat Rooms and Chat Rumours

## Chapter One

### Crime Watch

Light exploded into the vast expanse which he had yet to name, blindingly bright, forcing his eyes to seal themselves before dimming down to a just-about-bearable level. Isolation was all that he associated with the place. Isolation and nothingness. For that was all that it was, a blank, empty void where he was alone. The colour was indescribable, like none he ever saw elsewhere, incredibly frustrating since it allowed him no sense of spacial awareness. It was all seamless, no end nor start within sight. 

He walked, as he always did. Then that walk developed into a jog and eventually transformed into a run. A run of desperation. It felt as though he wasn't even moving, no indication of a change in the terrain, no signs of any differences at all. It drove him insane. That's what he concluded anyway, if that fact that he had begun to hear a shrill cackling despite being so alone didn't connote that he'd gone loopy, then he had no clue as to what could.

He looked up, or at least looked in the direction that was presumably upwards, and noticed that the fading had begun. He had a name for that at least, _the fading_. The area above him now appeared to have a limit, a long way away from him, but it existed none the less. He could tell as a deep black was seeping across it like ink spilling across an unusually coloured canvas. He made an effort to take caution when this happened, he dropped his guard the first and paid a fortune for it. One slick blob of black dripped down, almost in slow motion, slapping the floor a couple of inches away from his bare foot. He no longer flinched as he used to, he had calculated the impact point with almost perfect precision, there was no need to doubt himself _as well_ as those around him.

More droplets flew down, however, the centre of the black splatter above him had stabilised now, resulting in the remaining droplets to fall further and further away from him, out of harm's way. It wasn't long before the darkness had enveloped the entire area regardless of how large it had appeared to him when he ran, reinforcing the concept that he hadn't even moved at all. He sighed while settling down into a seated position, cross-legged on the ground. It was madness, but it'd be over soon.

-_-_-_-

Ichigo jolted awake, almost falling over and becoming a mushy mess on the road below. After steadying himself and swiping disobedient, orange strands of hair out of his eyes, he scanned his surroundings. He was situated in a rather awkward position, dangling precariously over the edge of his balcony on the 26th floor of the run down apartment building he resided within. The only thing between him and imminent death was a pair of handcuffs, clamping one of his wrists to the railing while the rest of his body was draped against the bars.

 _”Fuck...”_ he whispered while his brows tightly knitted themselves in response to the rest of his body, it protested against this ridiculous arrangement through the means of aches and pangs.

“Hey” A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Ichigo craned his neck in order to get a glimpse at the presence above him. A rather muscular man who wore baggy joggers combined with a much tighter tank top had walked over the balcony and rested a pair of crossed arms upon it. While these features all distinguished him from most people in the streets of Karakura, the most distinctive look about him was his bright red hair of which he wore knotted up in such a strange fashion that he had earned the nick name “Pine Apple Head” from Ichigo. He spared no time before he lit a new cigarette, tossing the ashen remains of his last stick into the depths of the city streets below.

“That's illegal you know” Was the first thing Ichigo blurted out, still groggy.  
“Says you” The red head smirked, reaching into a back pocket to reveal a small tablet which flickered on at his touch. Holding the cigarette between two fingers, he swiped a few times before holding it in front of Ichigo's face, having to bend down to make such a feat. Ichigo turned his attention to the bright screen before him.

“Yet again, we have our chrome masked frenzied friend darting across rooftops with another stolen fortune in his palms. The diamond casket is a...”  
A female reporter commentated on the scene which lay before Ichigo, a chase sequence following a paper white character who was dashing across rooftops as the reporter had mentioned, holding what seemed to be a rather large, transparent case of some sort at his side. The figure turned to the camera, displaying his mask which, from what Ichigo could make out, appeared to be grey with red, manic features. Two eyes and a menacing smile. The image switched, replaced by the female reporters own.  
“That's all we have time for tonight, tune in tomorrow morning for any developments on the white swordsman's case. You've been watching CrimeWatch, see you again tomorrow morning.” Once the clip had ended, the red head retracted his tablet and replaced it back in his back pocket.

“Well fuck me then!” Ichigo smiled sarcastically. “I've still got to find where on earth he puts all of his collectables too, I don't want police storming my apartment and finding them in a bloody cupboard I didn't know existed” He exclaimed, swinging slightly, frustration was extremely evident in his tone.  
“They won't be anywhere near here mate, don't worry about it. He's smart, unlike you” the red head responded, still smirking.  
Ichigo frowned “What?”  
“Well, I dunno know about you but I don't like to spend my hours helplessly dangling from a balcony”  
Ichigo flushed red with anger, the reason why he hadn't sorted himself out yet was because he was tired, he had no will to lift himself out of his current predicament.  
“Well why have you left me hangin' hey? You're my mate right? Help a brother out!” Ichigo demanded.  
The red head let out a sigh and shrugged purposefully to wind Ichigo up.  
“Renji!” Ichigo shouted at him, clearly annoyed.  
“Okay, okay, if you insist. God, why can't he dump your body in, well, more normal places? Like, I dunno, your bed?” Renji pondered aloud as he clasped onto Ichigo's free arm with an iron grip while simultaneously releasing the handcuff. It wasn't too much of an ordeal for him, Ichigo only had a slim frame and the handcuff was fake, it didn't require a key. Not long had passed before he was able to gently rest Ichigo on the floor of the balcony. He could tell he didn't like the way he did it all for him, Ichigo even complained when Renji insisted on placing him even after he had gotten Ichigo mostly over. Regardless, Renji ignored him and did as he pleased.

Ichigo huffed with exasperation while early rays of sunshine coloured him and his friend with a golden haze, tinting his usually bright orange hair with flecks of glowing yellow. Their shadows were plastered against the faded wall and yellow stained glass door, a silhouette of a proud, upright man looking down upon an unstable figure, which seemed to flicker ever so slightly. 

“You should go already, look at the time. I've work in like, four hours and I haven't slept. Not really” Ichigo suggested, though Renji knew he was trying to make an order.  
“Sure” Renji complied this time. “I'll be darned if I don't see you online though”  
“True” Ichigo agreed, turning to gaze upon the sun licked apartment buildings behind his own. There were no more words to be said and Renji soon found himself leaving the boy in peace. Although, he stopped at the door, a thought playing on his mind. After a few moments of silence followed by the sounding of a noisy Ichigo entering the room across from him, he dismissed the idea and left the residence. 

-_-_-_-

##### 17/09/3007

>   
>  **Strawbzy joined the chat**
> 
> **Strabzy:** hey guys :)  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** Hey  
>  **Strabzy:** hows life?  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** Melancholic... you?  
>  **Strabzy:** ehhhh pretty crap but hey wud i be on here otherwise? :P  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** Most likely not. Now, If I can recall correctly, you have a half decent PC?  
>  **Strabzy:** i guess so  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** Well, I've found a video game you might like. It's good to have a distraction when everything gets to be at least moderately overwhealming. It's called “FootBall Coach”, you might like it, I'll give you a link, one minute.  
>  **Strabzy:** cool, thx  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** I saw it and thought of you. Footballcoach.org/download  
>  **Strawbzy:** im gonna check it out, c u in a min  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** See you later.
> 
> **Strabzy left the chat**  
>  **SnekFire joined the chat**
> 
> **SnekFire:** Yo, guys, did you see the news?  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** About the earthquake?  
>  **SnekFire:** Nah, there's always earthquakes. I meant the undergound news!  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** Oh, okay. The war?  
>  **SnekFire:** You chill on the underground emo?  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** I have a lot of spare time.  
>  **SnekFire:** Okay. Well, what d'yah think?  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** It's quite simply absurd.  
>  **SnekFire:** Nahhhhh, you don't know the undergound like I do!
> 
> **Strawbzy joined the chat**
> 
> **EmoTheKidd:** What's there to know?  
>  **Strawbzy:** 1 min, lemme read the chat  
>  **SnekFire:** When stuff like this catches fire like that, it is real!  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** How so?  
>  **Strawbzy:** wat kinda sites u guys been on  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** The illegal kind.  
>  **Strawbzy:** wat? no i got work dam it :( c u guys later  
>  **SnekFire:** See yah Strawbz  
>  **EmoTheKidd:** See you later. 
> 
> **Strawbzy left the chat**  
> 

Ichigo arched his back and popped a few of his joints once he had withdrawn from his computer screen, what on earth were Renji and that emo kid on about? He knew of the underground, it used to be known as the deep web and that was the extent of his knowledge on the subject. A war? Like emo had said, it all sounded a bit absurd. Nevertheless, Ichigo was going to be late for work if he continued to absent-mindedly dawdle on topics which had essentially nothing relating him. Banishing his curiosity as he did so, Ichigo dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the now burnt piece of toast he had left in the toaster while he chatted and then went on to hurriedly slip on his football gear. After a minute or so, he barged out of the door, hair ruffled and collar undone but he would be damned if he didn't make it on time. Money makes the world go around and oh boy was Ichigo short of it. He wasn't about to be fired. Again.


	2. The most yet least Genuine Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Ichigo quickly reviews his work day, he remembers his first encounter with his most valued friend: Renji Abarai the Cage Fighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry it took forever, I've got a plan now and I wrote this today. This series is going to be a long one, I have an overarching plot, and sub-plots etc. planned out. Should be fun :)

# Chat Rooms and Chat Rumours

## Chapter Two

### The most and least Genuine Guy

Work was... _okay._

Well, it certainly wasn't a terrible job that Ichigo had. Heck, it suited him perfectly. His _other side's_ illicit hobbies had rather astonishingly advantageous side effects on his body due to their demanding requirements. At first, it was agonising. Waking up rendered practically immobile because of the strenuous tasks it insisted upon carrying out while Ichigo slept; it meant that his body never was truly allowed to recover during his twilight hours. However, as time passed, it would appear that he had become accustomed to the exertion, meanwhile, he had also adapted to his trying circumstances by allowing himself to rest (laze around doing nothing productive essentially) while he was awake, whenever possible. That was when the forum browsing had become his favourite source of light entertainment. He had met Renji through a forum actually.

The forum was named “Rukongai” and was known for its fairly original format (as original as one can get among the literal millions upon millions of forums which inhabited the internet). It consisted of 80 boards holding a vast population, the amount of which Ichigo had never bothered to seek out personally. The first boards were the most popular; they'd been up for the longest and also had the key asset of being on the front page of the site. These factors had a tendency to draw most of the newcomers. As the pages went on, member numbers dwindled, though they never came to a stop. Ichigo, being a true “hipster”, as Renji used to label him until Ichigo realised that Renji had done the exact same as he had, decided to settle on “Inuzuri”: the 78th board. He had then gone on to find that the board he had chosen was a delightful little place consisting of many incredibly specific threads. One thread in particular which had caught the ginger's eye was titled “Facade”. The contents and principles of said thread were quite unique, the basic concept was that it was a gathering of individuals who chose to hide their true selves, whether that excluded or included online it did not matter; the one feature each of the users had in common was that they weren't themselves 'IRL'. This “facade” board effectively created a space where such members could choose to reveal themselves (if they wished), something Ichigo found intriguing, being a man who held a facade himself. 

There was a fair amount of interesting users that occupied the thread in question, although, there was only one which Ichigo ended up spending all that much time conversing with, the red pineapple himself. Neither truly got to know the ins and outs of one another, be that as it may, they had grown very close. Long, strains of chatting mostly one-on-one in their beloved thread later evolved into private messages. After a good seven months, Ichigo came across a marvelous revelation: _What if they were to meet up, IRL?_

He would've thought the idea to be ludicrous just shy of four months ago, yet Ichigo now found himself _excited_ , for lack of a better term, by the prospect. Renji was just like him. They both lead rather low lives, neither truly feeling themselves in the world they lived in, both quite troubled. Plus, they didn't live far apart at all. It was perfect and the best part was that...

Renji felt the same. 

The rest had all seemed quite surreal, especially with how well the following events panned out. Their first encounter had been at one of Renji's matches and marked not only the day the pair met but also the first time Ichigo had witnessed a live cage fight. As he had undoubtedly expected, his future comrade had won, the ginger could still recall it with vivid clarity.

-_-_-_-

Hot white lights blared down on him, casting the illusion that he was radiating as his sweat smothered skin reflected the rays. He drew deep, heavy breaths as time began to resume its standard pace, no longer slowed like it was when he fought. His opponent was down and unconscious, he had been a rather beefy lad but it only proved to be just as useful if it were fat, lagging him where it counted, giving the redhead the edge he needed to win. There wasn't much else to say about the disgrace of a fighter and Renji was no longer interested either. Instead of noting down more details on the guy who he no longer deemed relevant, he wiped away the stray, damp hairs that always managed to escape his tight knot during battle. _No, he had something far more interesting to do._ He mused while surveying the crowd. The blinding lights coupled with his exhaustion resulted in his view of what lay through the bars being reasonably limited, however, he couldn't mistake that mop of bright orange for anything else. The referee was saying something, but it blended into white noise along with the cheers of the crowd.

He was grinning, as he always did when he had won a fight, another win to the ever growing tally of victories. Usually, he'd pull out a smart one liner, what he regarded as smart anyway. The crowd loved that, however, today his mind was preoccupied. He was so distracted, he could've lost, but instead, he channelled his excitement into his battle, resulting in an impressive display of skill and power. A small part of him thought it all to be a little silly, to be so pumped to meet someone. Yeah, maybe if the aforementioned person was a celebrity perhaps, but even then, Renji never really got caught up with those kinds of fascinations. _A celeb is just like anyone else, they've just managed to get known for one reason or another._ That logic was the reason why he never took part in signings after matches. He was not a celebrity, he knew that, but many speculated him to be an “up and coming” big deal in the world of cage fighting. But still, the only signatures he gave out were for official papers.

So, this person, only distinguishable by keen eyes searching for that particular shade in the crowd, was no celebrity. He wasn't a big shot of any kind when it came to work, sports or even online presence. Nothing. When Renji looked at it like that, it felt silly, stupid even. Although, the rest of him knew otherwise. This person was different from the rest of the crowd, those faces which just melded into a sea of cheers, for Renji was not measuring him by achievement but rather by character. His friend of seven months was simultaneously the most and least genuine of people he had ever met. Fake on the outside, real to the few. He knew that the boy wasn't completely 'real' to him just yet, but neither was he. Regardless, they were exclusive in that sense, they were the truest to one another and the least fake in front of each other. A rarity really. Taking this all into account, Renji saw his feelings as perfectly justifiable. He was about to meet the person who knew _him._

-_-_-_-

The VIP pass had allowed him to go backstage, something which was an entirely new experience to Ichigo, just like witnessing a cage fight in the first place. He was still trying to make his mind up when it came to what he thought of the sport. It was incredibly intense; he had been clinging to the edge of his seat for the entirety of the match, observing the hostile dispute a mere few feet below him. Sure, Ichigo was no stranger to combat, it wasn't uncommon for him to come home with a few bruises and scratches. But those fights were only small scraps he had a habit of causing whenever his sense of morality was provoked. Just last week, some wannabe thugs had decided that it'd be hilarious to vandalise a poor girl's grave. Granted, he was being a little melodramatic, they had kicked over a vase of flowers left at a roadside where a young girl had recently deceased. Nevertheless, it was an incredibly disrespectful act and aggravated him to no end. They got what he deemed they deserved, to say the least.

But cage fighting was a far cry from Ichigo's little street skirmishes. The two combatants had been trained for their own specific martial arts, specialised in techniques for that purpose. Conclusion aside, those two individuals were dangerous, much more so than the common goon Ichigo encountered when roaming the alleys near his house, and there wasn't a single doubt in his mind that every one of the fighters who made it into that cage were just as threatening as his friend and his respective opponent. Perhaps if it has been an unofficial event, the kind which tends to take place in night clubs, for example, it would've been less intimidating due to the fact that those thugs Ichigo was so fond of would've been the participators. On the other hand, the environment would've been much less controlled, much more savage. Plus, no way in hell Ichigo would've been allowed inside at 16. 

However, at the same time, Ichigo admired the individuals who had fought within their confines. Both were unique, the larger man employing what the announcer had described as “traditional Lucha libre” coming from a long line of “luchadors”. Upon seeing Renji's much lower weight class (the matches were open weight), he had set the impressive wager of removing his mask forever if Renji won, which Ichigo had later found was an incredibly big deal. The mask in question had a base colour of white with black markings running down the centre and front, forming a cross. Unfortunately for him, that mask was no longer in his possession since he lost. Meanwhile, Renji used “Muay Thai”, another fighting style Ichigo has never heard of. In fact, Ichigo wasn't really all that good at identifying what exactly differentiated Renji from most professional fighting that he had seen clips of here and there, but then again, he wasn't the kind of watched it either up until today. All he knew was that Renji was incredibly fast, whether or not that was tied into the style, Ichigo knew not. The announcer said something interesting about it, stating that “It looks like we're watching Charring Serpent today instead of the Gorilla Blaze from last week”. He'd have to look into that later.

All in all, cage fighting was intriguing.

He felt as though a world has opened up to him and he wanted to learn more about it, although, he still had to see whether or not he wished to participate. Most likely not but he wouldn't mind supporting his friend one bit. Bearing that thought in mind, he flipped out his phone, one of the older models of the holophone brand “Hettick”. The object appeared to be nothing but a piece of glass before he unfolded it, triggering the blue screen to ignite and flourish across the surface. Essentially, it was a small projector and motion sensor set atop a small pane of reinforced glass. Being his dad's old phone, the images was exclusively coloured in light blue. As he brought up the search bar, the sound of the door across from him clicking open interrupted. Ichigo looked up, watching as the door slowly slid open with a slight fizz, revealing a man who stood at a total of 6'2, 6 inches taller than himself. The man stepped out into the light of the room, no longer shrouded by darkness and allowing Ichigo to identify him as the one he was waiting for, Renji Abarai. He was no longer in the shorts he wore in the cage but instead wore some grey joggers but left his top half bare, tattoos partially covered by the towel that hung from his neck. However, Ichigo's attention had been caught by the man's hair. It was brought up into a tight knot, in the shape of what Ichigo could only describe as a...

“...pineapple”

The two froze, an expression which Ichigo mentally tagged as the “what the fuck” face overtook Renji while Ichigo dropped his jaw, desperately digging through his brain for something to say to save the moment.

“I.. err.. sorry... it's just that...” He began, inwardly cursing at himself. To his relief, Renji began to drop his expression, waiting for the explanation. After more stumbles and mutterings, Ichigo blurted out: “Your hair looks like a pineapple”.

“Well... your hair makes you look like a carrot!” Renji responded, feigning anger.  
“It does not!” Ichigo argued, standing up to face Renji, as much as the height difference allowed.  
“Does too!” Renji advanced a little closer.  
“Does not!” Ichigo did the same.  
Their little altercation continued until the two were practically only a hair breadths apart from each other. They stared hard into one another's eyes for a good long couple of seconds before Renji let out a small laugh, breaking his angered facade. It wasn't long before Ichigo followed, giggling despite himself. Eventually, the two were in fits, the previous awkwardness of the encounter broken. Renji sat down on the sofa where Ichigo was earlier, gesturing for Ichigo to join him.

“Ichigo, I'm guessing?” He asked as the ginger took his seat back.  
“Yeah, I know you're Renji. I also knew you had red hair but... do you always have it like this or is it just for matches?” Ichigo responded.  
“Always” the red head twiddled a strand of hair between his fingers. “It's pretty fresh”  
“Oh God! I thought you said you were 21!” Ichigo laughed in disbelief.  
“What? I am?”  
“Fresh? That's so old!” He explained.  
“No! It is not!” Renji defended.  
“Is too!”  
“Is not!”  
There was a moment of silence before the two burst into laughter again. That conversation marked the beginning of their friendship outside of the internet, as well as when Renji first earned his nickname “Pineapple head”.


End file.
